Would you agree that 21st century living is characterized by immediate gratification, speed, and complexity? That is not to say that any of those things are bad or that we should return to pioneer living. It is to say that those things can sometimes blind you to the awesomeness of nature.

In this post, you will be reminded of the many blessings in nature and how simply slowing down to receive them actually yields the results you aspire to.

Nature Gets Better With Age

This is a concept that is often stated as fact but rarely appreciated or embraced in practice. Think about it, fast food drive thru windows and microwave dinners are both ways of getting a meal in short order. Gone are the days when we go out into the field to pick vegetables and fish in the pond for the meal to be eaten that evening. Much less take the preparation time necessary to cook it.

Can you smell that food cooking with wonderful herbs and seasoning? I bet there is not a single person who would rather eat fast food or a Lean Cuisine over a nice home cooked meal any day.

A fine wine gets better with time.

Aged wine not only tastes better, but the smell is more robust. As a result, it is deemed more valuable. We get better with age and honor the wisdom of someone older. Why is that? Exactly, they have the many life experiences to speak to the cycles of life. Don’t believe me…Think back to your first heartbreak. Did you talk to someone older who probably told you something like, “Time heals all wounds baby.”

In that moment you thought you were going to die of heartbreak, but with each passing week you noticed that more days went by without being consumed with tears. Only wisdom affords you the beauty of perspective.

Nature Is Calm Versus Chaos

Ever feel like you are waiting for the other shoe to fall? Just when every thing seems to be going your way, the car breaks down or you have another unexpected life event. Ever notice that? It’s quite simple. Nature is always in a tug-o-war for balance.

The constant 21st century messaging would have you believe that you can take actions to stop this natural battle. The reality is that you can only take more steps to live in nature’s harmony, putting you in tuned with what will bring balance to your life.

Ancient philosopher Aristotle taught us that, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” In short, nature requires a space to be filled with something. As such, the notion of just being is almost laughable in the 21st century. Living naturally is not to suggest that we don’t enjoy technology and appreciate expedience.

Rather, I’m suggesting that we don’t always seek to fill a void in our attention with media and technology. Perhaps we take time to observe the lessons afforded us throughout nature’s life cycle. Said differently, listen to the natural, instinctive voice within.

Trial And Error Is Nature’s Theme

Trial and error is inherent in life. Much like a toddler learning to walk, each step teaches us. There will be falls and bumps along the way.

You can choose to appreciate and embrace the lessons to solidify your learning. You can also choose to attempt short cutting your lessons. Have you ever asked yourself why you keep dealing with the same issues over and over? If so, you’ve likely chosen to ignore that internal voice within that would have you make a different choice.

Living Naturally Summary

The 23rd verse of the Tao does a great job reminding us that there is a natural order and unyielding cycle of life. The focus of this post is to illustrate how much your choices can either walk you in accordance to natural order or create resistance to it. Either way, nature will balance your choice.

This chapter reminds us that changing your thoughts by living the wisdom of the Tao will help change your life by embracing life’s natural order. The chapter’s last paragraph suggests observing nature and identifying at least three ways you would like to be more natural in your response to life.

I’m struck by the very weather changes that I observed today…It was a beautiful summer morning full of chirping birds and sunshine. In a matter of hours, the clouds moved in with strong winds and persisting rain for a short time. Finally, another couple of hours ushered in clear skies and sunshine.

One of my personal natural observations and responses to life is best described by a famous idiom and quote:

“There is calm before the storm”

And

“Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” – Jack Ma

We hope you got value from this Living Naturally In The 21st Century post. Please share some of your nature observations and what natural response that you plan to incorporate in your life below in the comment section.

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Thank you! Great post! I agree with both of you and I too find I need to work in cycles, much like Nature. She does a Beautiful job of showing us the cycles, the Abundance, the sheer Beauty of it all. I look forward to the Discussion 🙂

Donna Allen

Love the article. What comes out in the verse of nature for me. Much like enjoying the beach.
We have no control over those tide coming or going out, Much like my life. Teaches me to allow and let it go in and out. “Keep moving even if it’s not so fast pace.” The Mountain and the Dessert. Teaches me that Nature does not hurry and the balance is always on time.

Donna Allen

We the people are effecting our Medicine. Welcome to the 21st Modern Century. I am thankful still as Dr. Wayne Dyer said in the verse. “I rejoice that things are as they are”. Still a place for Stillness or Balance.

I love how Wayne reminds us at the beginning of this chapter that even though nature uses force sometimes to make big change, it still only does it with temporary effort.
Hmmm…
Makes you really think about how you work to accomplish goals.
For me, I find that I get very burnt out if I try and do alot every single day over a long period of time. I just can’t keep going with drive and at a fast pace.

I feel like I accomplish much more with short bursts of binge working.

However, I think we’ve been taught that we should be going at 110% 24-7 otherwise we are considered lazy or not ambitious! So then we feel guilty if we want to ‘stop and smell the roses’!

Maybe we ARE supposed to be more like nature. Maybe we are supposed to spend more time enjoying life and less time working!

Donna Allen

Samantha. I truly believe we are so busy that we forget that Nature is the very Heart of God! I feel like we forget to learn from the it….sadly our modern day people are loosing much respect for it.

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